Dean Brooke Elliott sticks to her own version of business attire. She is often seen dressed in a T-shirt, blazer, and jeans and sporting her signature pair of Jordans. Her confident and driven nature as an academic and her steadfast belief in public higher education have powered her career at Illinois for almost 25 years.

“As I moved into leadership positions, I started to recognize how important it was to really be your authentic self and to do it boldly. It sets an example for others and encourages them to bring their authentic selves to the workplace or to whatever space you’re in,” she said.

Elliott grew up in Bedford, Indiana, a rural community known as the “limestone capital of the world,” in a family that valued education — even though college remained out of reach for many of her peers. She didn’t always plan for a career in academia, however. The eldest of three, she once envisioned a different future.

“I grew up watching ‘L.A. Law,’” Elliott said. “I saw that Corbin Bernsen drove a Bentley, and I thought, yeah, I like that. Let’s go with that.”

Set on becoming a lawyer, she decided to major in accounting at Indiana University, hoping to stand out among other law school applicants. A professor, however, nudged her in a different direction. Elliott pivoted to a career in academia and, while pursuing her PhD at the University of Washington, committed to that path.

At Gies College of Business, she values the connections she builds with students and alumni from similar backgrounds.

“I often meet alumni who’ve been tremendously successful in business, and their stories aren’t so different from mine. I don’t make millions,” Elliot said with a laugh, “but what we share is where we started: Many came from very little, and the University of Illinois changed our lives. That’s why I love being at a public institution.”

During a speech at her 2023 investiture as the Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor in Business, Elliott returned to a childhood memory, not to celebrate her intrinsic competitive nature but to rethink it.

At the neighborhood pool, she had a favorite challenge: who could swim the farthest underwater. It wasn’t casual. It was a competition, and Elliott didn’t compete to lose. She would push off the wall and glide forward, lungs burning, determined not to be the first to surface. The goal was distance. The goal was winning.

Her friends usually surfaced first, sometimes because they needed air, sometimes, Elliott now jokes, because they didn’t want their friend to drown while trying to win. At the time, she saw her perseverance as proof of toughness. Endurance. Will.

It took years to understand what was really happening. What Elliott sees now isn’t just a fiercely competitive kid refusing to come up for air. She sees friends who valued her life more than the outcome. Empathy, she has learned, isn’t softness. It is strength directed outward.

“When you demonstrate empathy, you build confidence in others,” Elliott said. “You help them accomplish things they may never have thought possible.”

The lesson she carries isn’t about holding your breath the longest. It’s about recognizing when others are holding space for you and learning to do the same for them.

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We wanted to get to know Elliott a little better, so we’ve asked her to answer an abbreviated version of the Proust Questionnaire for STORIED. Once a popular Victorian parlor game made famous by writer Marcel Proust, the Proust Questionnaire has been used by reporters over the centuries and across the globe to reveal a side of leaders, artists, actors, and public figures we may not usually see. You might recognize the format from the back page of Vanity Fair, which has had celebrities answer the questions since 1993.

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— What is your idea of perfect happiness? 

In the mountains with my family and friends

— What is the quality you admire most in a person?

Grit

— Who is your favorite musician? Writer?
Favorite Musician: Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters
Favorite Writers: Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky

— Who are your heroes in real life?
Cancer survivors who demonstrate unbelievable grit and grace

— Who are your heroes throughout history?
 John F. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Billie Jean King

— What is your most treasured possession?

My Ford Raptor R

— What motivates you?

A desire to transform lives through education

— Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
It is what it is. And another one I probably can’t share here.

— What is your idea of misery?
Spending my energy in areas not aligned with my passions

— What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Being a dean and a mom and doing both relatively well

— Which talent would you most like to have?
To learn languages easily

— If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?
Me; I love my life

— Where is your favorite spot in the world?
Two places: Patagonia and the Dolomites (but only with my family or friends)

— What is your motto?

Don’t worry about the things you can’t control, and have confidence in those that you can.